Ball throwing devices are useful as practice devices in games that involve hitting a ball such as baseball, softball, cricket or tennis.
Prior art devices for throwing balls and supplying balls to throwing machines are well known. Examples of such devices are shown in the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 202,301 to Taltavull PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,217 to Raty PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,076 to Perry PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,003 to Sainsbury PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,810 to Brophy PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,749 to Giovagnoli PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,802 to Gatin PA1 an enclosure formed with an aperture; PA1 a movable gate to cover the aperture; PA1 a throwing arm adapted to receive a ball pivotally mounted within the enclosure for movement between a ball loading position and a released position; PA1 means for releasably holding the throwing arm in the ball loading position; PA1 means for releasing the throwing arm from the ball loading position; PA1 actuating means for moving the throwing arm from the ball loading position to the released position to throw the ball; and PA1 means to open the gate to allow discharge of the ball from the enclosure.
Raty discloses a device that requires a human attendant to be standing by in order to aim the device and keep it supplied with balls.
Brophy discloses a baseball dispensing device that supplies balls at timed intervals to a ball throwing machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,802 is owned by the inventor and discloses a ball throwing apparatus similar the present design but without the feature of a safety gate.
The remaining patents disclose ball throwing mechanisms that use a complex arrangement of gears and cams to achieve delayed release of the balls. Many of the devices require an electric motor or similar power source to operate.
The inventor's ball throwing apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,802, has limited marketability because the ball throwing arm is exposed and could cause injuries. To overcome this problem, the inventor has developed a new ball throwing apparatus having a throwing arm housed in an enclosure that includes a safety gate which remains closed except when the ball is being thrown. Preventing access to the throwing arm when the apparatus is in use addresses the safety concerns of the previous design.